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What Dreams Can Do for You
Psychologists have long known that people can solve their problems at work and home by "sleeping on it." The challenge has always been to train yourself to dream up the solutions. Deirdre Barrett, PhD, an assistant psychology professor at Harvard Medical School and editor of the journal Dreaming, advises individuals to ponder questions just before falling asleep (Should I take this job? Should I marry that guy?) and then let the subconscious provide the answers. "I've known artists looking for inspiration who simply dream up a future show of their art and wake up with plenty of new painting ideas," says Barrett. "More and more people are learning these techniques to control their dreams."Some researchers believe that you can guide your dreams while you're sleeping. In recent years, Stephen LaBerge, PhD, has pioneered a way of directing the sleeping mind through "lucid dreaming," in which a sleeping person realizes he or she is dreaming while it is happening. Lucid dreamers can experience fantasy adventures -- like flying to the moon, traveling through time or making love on a beach -- while being fully aware that they're dreaming. "It's like a poor man's Tahiti," says LaBerge, a psychophysiologist who directs the Lucidity Institute in Palo Alto, California. "Just being in a lucid dream is a turn-on for people."
According to LaBerge, lucid dreamers can use the experience for a variety of purposes: problem solving, developing creative ideas and healing. Patricia Keelin, a 55-year-old graphic cartographer from northern California, has used lucid dreaming for everything from talking to her long-dead father to gorging on sweets. "Chocolate always tastes better in a lucid dream because you don't have to worry about the calories," she says. A weak swimmer in her waking life, she often likes to go skin diving when she realizes she's having a lucid dream, diving to the bottom of the dream ocean without worrying about breathing (or her swimming skills). "It's exhilarating," she says. "Lucid dreaming is great because it's free and available to everybody."
Well, not entirely free. Although everyone has the potential to dream lucidly, it rarely happens routinely without special training or temperament. The Lucidity Institute operates instructional workshops and retreats to spread the gospel. LaBerge has even developed a $500 device -- called the NovaDreamer (novadreamer.com) -- which helps individuals become participants in their dreams. Once the sleep-mask-like device recognizes the wearer is experiencing REM sleep characteristic of dreaming, it emits a flashing red light that is designed to seep into the person's dream. "It's like being at the opera and realizing the flashing lights at intermission mean the opera is about to start again," says LaBerge. "The cue says that you're dreaming so you can open yourself up to any kind of experience you want. After all, it's your dream."
Indeed, your dreams are like private movies where you are the star, director and writer all at once. And as the latest research indicates, you are also the most insightful movie critic -- without the need of a couch. The best interpreter of your dreams is you.
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